An Introduction to Amoris Laetitia

Pope Francis has published a landmark document on marriage and family life in the form of an Apostolic Exhortation entitled “
Amoris Laetitia: The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family.” It is the sort of book that merits a slow, patient, and meditative reading. I highly recommend it, especially for any Christian who is married or thinking of getting married.

The book reads more easily and smoothly than many Vatican documents. It will soon appear on the shelves of bookstores, and it is already available in several languages on the Vatican website
www.vatican.va. The text consists of 256 pages organized into nine chapters. Like all papal documents, it is organized according to paragraph numbers. When I make reference to the text in this article, I will refer to the paragraph number.

The document is the fruit of two worldwide consultative events called Synods of Bishops, held in Rome in October 2014 and October 2015. The preparation for the discussions in the synods included questionnaires that were used around the world.

Amoris Laetitia is very concrete and realistic. It is based in human experience, the Holy Scriptures, and almost 2,000 years of Church teachings. It is full of warm pastoral guidance about the daily life of the family. It cites the writings of Francis’ predecessors, particularly Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. It also draws upon Francis’ own previous writings as bishop and pope.

Pope Francis was motivated to write this document because of his concern for the future of marriage. He reminds us that the family is the basis of society, yet the family throughout the world is in crisis. He laments the falling birth rate in Europe. He sees that many young people are not interested in getting married. He is disturbed by the fact that economic conditions cause many mothers to have to get two jobs, leaving their children alone.

These facts have motivated the Holy Father to write a positive work that seeks to make marriage more desirable and attractive. It presents the reasons and motivations for choosing marriage and family. It offers a perspective of hope and compassion, filled with concrete reminders of the beauty of family life. It encourages couples to trust in the grace of God for living out their marriage.

What does the document not do? It does not give up on marriage. It does not express hopelessness or helplessness in the face of moral failings. It is not just trying to be fashionable or “hip.” It is not decrying the evils of the present age or denouncing a decadent world. It is not trying to impose rules by sheer authority. It is not an abstract theological treatise on the ideal of marriage. It does not declare a change in our fundamental Catholic doctrines.

Amoris Laetitia presents the major themes of marriage, sexuality, and family life in an inspirational celebration of the way of love. The following are some highlights from the document.

Chapter One offers the biblical basis for marriage and family. It speaks of the “primordial divine plan” for marriage. It clearly embraces an understanding of marriage that is between a man and a woman, open to children, faithful, loving, and a lifelong commitment.

Chapter Two considers the current situation of families. Pope Francis seeks to be grounded in reality as he lists the many challenges faced by families, including migration, the “culture of the provisional,” the anti-birth mentality, lack of housing, pornography, violence against women, abuse of minors, lack of respect for the elderly, and rampant individualism.

He also includes a section on “gender ideology” (paragragh 56), where he expresses disagreement with an ideology that tries to separate completely personal identity from the biological difference between male and female. He says that we are creatures, not the Creator: “Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift.” (56) He says we need to accept and respect our humanity as it was created.

Chapter Three offers the central elements of classic Catholic teaching on marriage and the family. Pope Francis emphasizes marriage as a lifelong and faithful commitment, the Catholic view of marriage as a sacrament, the right to life, and the importance of the upbringing of children.

He says, “So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life, which is an end in itself and which can never be considered the ‘property’ of another human being.” (83)

The three chapters that I would most recommend to married couples and to those who are preparing to marry are Chapters Four, Five, and Seven.

Chapter Four is about love in marriage. It begins with a long explanation of St. Paul’s passage on love in I Corinthians 13:4- 7. This chapter is like none I have ever seen in any papal document, entering deeply into the emotional world of the spouses. It presents the erotic dimension of human love as a gift from God.

Pope Francis helps us to understand the nature of joy in marriage. This joy embraces both positive and negative experiences: a “mixture of enjoyment and struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions and longings, annoyances and pleasures.” (126) The Holy Father says that the famous passage in Ephesians 15:6 (“wives, be submissive to your husbands”) is really about the reciprocal self-gift of husband and wife. He says that the wife should never be regarded as a slave or servant of the husband. (156)

Chapter Five is about the fruitfulness of love and welcoming new life. Here, the pope shows that family includes more than just the traditional “nuclear” family; it also includes a wider network of many relationships.

Chapter Six is especially useful for pastoral ministers in churches. It proposes improved methods for the formation of healthy families, especially the preparation of engaged couples and ministry to couples in their early years of marriage. The document states that Church teaching remains clear that marriage is between a man and a woman, and homosexual unions cannot be placed on the same level as Christian marriage. Even so, paragraph 250 states, “We would like before all else to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence.”

In this chapter, Pope Francis also makes reference to his recent reforms of the procedures for the declaration of nullity of marriages. These were enacted around the world on December 8, 2015.

Chapter Seven is about the raising of children, which includes ethical formation, proper discipline, passing on the faith, and sex education. In this chapter, the pope is both practical and hopeful. As he describes family life, he even mentions the frustration of the common scene of a family being together at the dinner table while everyone is on their cell phones.

Some may recall that much of the controversy in the secular media surrounding the Synod of Bishops, particularly in October 2014, was about the reception of Holy Communion by Catholics who are divorced and civilly remarried. Chapter Eight of Amoris Laetitia takes on this issue through a lengthy exposition of how general rules cannot apply absolutely to all particular situations.

In this chapter, Pope Francis says that these couples are part of the Church. They are not excommunicated. He applies the moral teachings of Thomas Aquinas as well as the “law of gradualness” found in the teachings of Pope John Paul II. Pastors need to do everything possible to help people in these situations to find a way to be included actively in the life of the faith community. We need to show understanding in the face of exceptional circumstances, while never dimming the light of the higher ideal, and never proposing less of what Jesus offers to the human being. (307)

As he presents the “logic of pastoral mercy,” Pope Francis also cautions us that the exception does not make the rule. He says, “If someone flaunts an objective sin as if it were part of the Christian ideal, or wants to impose something other than what the Church teaches, he or she can in no way presume to teach or preach to others.” (297)

Chapter Eight has become the topic of much heated discussion in the social media. It will continue to be explored by theologians and pastors for many years. With time, bishops and priests will be in a better position to offer more concrete guidance for the mature personal discernment that is called for in this chapter.

Chapter Nine speaks of the spirituality of marriage and the family. Pope Francis says that all families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love. The document concludes with this beautiful prayer to the Holy Family:

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love; to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families, too, may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic churches. Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing. Holy Family of Nazareth, make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen.”